Page 54 of Hunted By Wolves and Shadow
I had to be sure. “Did you mean it?”
“Mean what? That I want this? Yes, Wolf. Blue skies, I want you.”
“No. Well,yes,”—I shivered with the thrill that sent through me—“but…Did you mean it when you said I had to do it?”
“Do…? Oh. Yes, I did.” She smoothed my hair back from my forehead and held my gaze with hers. “You had to do what you did, and I should probably be apologizing to you, not…not mauling you and assuming you would want this. I'm so sorry.”
“Please don’t apologize. Never to me. And definitely never for this.Clouds, Emi, you’re so beautiful in every way. I need you to know that.”
It was heartbreaking to me every time she hid herself or became less of herself. The way she was conditioned to make herself smaller so others wouldn’t be irritated or inconvenienced, it made me want to tear down the world that could treat people like Emi that way. No one so beautiful inside, with so much to offer and able to endure as much as she had, should ever be made to feel less.
“You are incredible and perfect the way you are, kitten. You have no idea how much I want this. I've felt this way— Sunny skies, I think I wanted you from the first time I saw you. How could I not?”
Her face relaxed, and her hands were back on me, finding their way along my skin. I moaned my appreciation.
“Good.” She smiled. “That's good. I am sorry I tried to kill you so many times.” She laughed with me, but then her smile faded, and all I wanted to do was bring it back. I wanted to be the one putting a smile on her face, always. “I wish I had realized aboutmy family sooner, that I had believed you, or could change any of it. Mostly I wish I had used my first wish to break this curse for all of you. I don't want you to be trapped here like this.”
“I’m actually rather pleased to be trapped here exactly like this.” I grinned teasingly down at her legs clamped firmly around my hips, relieved and overjoyed when it brought her smile back. It morphed into something even better, matching my own filthy grin when I ground my hips down against hers. “As I think you can tell.”
Her hands were frantic again, palms skating across my chest like she was trying to touch everywhere all at once. Pleasure rippled through me, and I just wanted to do the same for her. I rolled us to the side, so I could tug apart the laces at her back to rid her of her corset belt.
“Please,” she whimpered, “please, Wolf. Need you.”
“Are you particularly attached to this chemise?”
She shook her head wildly, red locks flying, and it was all the permission I needed. My fingers dug into the fabric and tore it away, revealing creamy skin and the delicious curves of her breasts. One slid easily into my palm, fitting my hand perfectly while the thump of her heartbeat pounded under my fingers. I think I may have growled. I could have died and been perfectly happy about it, just knowing that this incredible, sexy, caring creature could feel for me even a fraction of what I felt for her.
I wanted every part of her, but I wanted to take my time.
I wanted to worship her the way she deserved, if it took me all night and tomorrow, and the next day—until she saw her worth the way I saw her. She would know how much she meant to me. She was going to know every part of me, feel me deep inside her and all around her. Now that I knew she wanted me, too, I wouldn’t stop until she understood what it felt like to be mine.
Chapter 25
Emi
Ithought Wolf had kissed me the first time, but now I knew how much he’d been holding back. The way he kissed me now, like he was worshiping me, eclipsed anything before it. It defied belief that he could want me this way after the way I’d treated him and blamed him.
He should have cast me away. Instead he was kissing every exposed bit of my skin and murmuring sweet nothings.
“So beautiful.” Wolf’s voice was low and hoarse, and it did unspeakable things to me.
My body buzzed with need. A current zapped along my spine and sizzled down my lower back. Helpless to resist, I arched into him, seeking friction where he rested between my legs.
“Please.” I didn’t even know what I was asking for, only that I wanted more. My body begged for release already, but more than I wanted to chase it, I wanted this to go on forever. To never stop feeling his lips, the scrape of his stubble, the heat of his skin against mine. His arm wrapped around me as his mouth claimed mine again, dragging a long moan from me.
Pulling me close, he hauled me upright so that we knelt together, my bare chest pressed to his.
“I want to take my time with you, kitten, but you’re making it hard with sounds like that.”
Just because I could, I leaned in and moaned again while I sucked the dip where his neck and shoulder met on the side opposite his scar.
“Now you’ve done it,” he growled.
Tugging me flush to his body, his hands dipped to my hips where his fingers masterfully unfastened my skirt. All the while his lips roamed my shoulders and neck, dragging lines of carnal fire where he grazed his teeth up my throat.
Every heightened emotion merged with the next flare of heat, building their way to a sea ofYesandMoreandWolfspilling from my mouth. He slipped my skirts down my thighs and tossed them aside, his gaze remaining locked on mine. Not until he’d shed his trousers did he let his eyes drift down.
“Clouded skies, Emi, look at you. You steal the breath from my lungs.”
